SPOILED WATER repost
by damandabear 2
Summary: Repost of Mulder and Scully's case in Colorado. Complete again! lol
1. Chapters 1 through 5

**The X-Files: Spoiled Water**

**(Spoilers: "Redux II")**

**By Amanda Smith**

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**CHAPTER 1**

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Todd and his wife, Laura, sat at the front of their covered wagon, tugging lightly on the reins. Laura insisted to her exhausted husband that it was necessary they stop for the night. The mules were tired, they all were thirsty, and the kids were hungry. Todd nodded in agreement. He hopped down and turned to help his wife to the ground. The 1846 summer sun was beating down on them relentlessly, as if punishing them for trying to cross the unknown alone. "Mommy, I'm thirsty," whined an eight-year-old Caleb.

"I know, baby. Daddy's trying to find us something to drink," she assured him, combing her fingers through his messy hair. She faced her two daughters, Lynn, eleven, and Mary, fourteen. "Would you girls mind preparing dinner, please?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

"Of course not, Mommy," they replied, almost in unison.

_It is nice having three children_, Laura thought, _but it'll be even nicer when Caleb is old enough to help out, as well_. She was just about to lie down in the wagon for a brief nap, when she spotted her husband returning from his search. "Did you find any?" she called out to him.

He wavered a little from side to side, but steadied himself with a shake of his hand. "Uh, yeah." He waited until he was close enough to speak normally before continuing. "Yeah. There's a small stream about half a mile southeast from here…maybe closer if we just go south."

"Well, Lynn and Mary have started dinner, so I'll go get the water."

"Don't be silly, Mother," interjected Caleb, holding a large pail, "I'll get it."

Laura smiled and put her hand on her chest. "Oh, thank you, sweetie, but let Mommy get it. You need to stay here in case Daddy needs your help." Caleb reluctantly handed her the pail, and she was on her way. Todd was right. The stream was a lot closer straight south. When she approached the running water, she noticed the lack of life nearby. There was no grass…no fish…not even any bugs. However, she and her family were very thirsty, and she needed to take water back to the mules to prevent dehydration or other illnesses. Those mules were extremely vital to this trip, and she must keep them healthy. Laura filled the pail despite the odd observation she had made, and took a closer look. Satisfied with it being liquid at all, she headed back.

The water was divided among the original pail and three others. One was for cooking, one for drinking, and one for each mule. Laura sipped her water, not knowing she would soon be screaming in agonizing pain. Todd sipped his water, not knowing it would dehydrate his organs in a matter of seconds. The kids sipped their waters, not knowing they were approaching the end of their desert journey. The family enjoyed their meal, unaware it would be their last.

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(present day)

The sun rose behind the mountainous horizon, bringing a new day with it. An eleven-year-old boy ran across the sand with a shovel, followed by another boy, nine, and a girl, twelve. "Alex, check this out!" screamed Bobby from the front. "I'm tellin' you guys! This is awesome!" They followed him breathlessly, Sandra at the end of the line in a knee-length skirt. They were only friends, but they felt like family because they had grown up as neighbors. Bobby ran to the base of a nearby cliff, the result of a plate tectonic collision decades before. He slammed the shovel into a soft, dark, bruise-like spot in the wall of earth, and water began to trickle down the side. "I told you this was cool."

The other two kids looked at him unimpressed. "_This _is what you brought us out here to see?" asked a disappointed Sandra. "Water?"

Alex was just about to leave when he got an idea. In a way that a nine-year-old boy would challenge a brother to eat a bug, he exclaimed, "I dare you to taste it!"

"Don't do that!" Sandra reprimanded. "You have no idea what's in that water."

Despite her good point, Bobby was always up for a good dare. He pressed his hand against the rock in the shape of a cup, trying to get as much water as he could. Once he was satisfied with the amount, he slurped it up happily. "Ha!" he shouted. "I did it." Alex cheered, and Sandra rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, Bobby grabbed his throat, and fear took over his delighted expression. He didn't look, nor did he feel, very powerful anymore…he felt terrified.

"What's wrong?" Sandra asked, very seriously, as tears began to flood her friend's eyes. "Bobby?" But he couldn't speak. Sandra turned to Alex. "Go get help!" she demanded and then returned her attention to Bobby. There was nothing she could do. She watched his knees buckle, and he fell. He was dead before he hit the ground.

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**CHAPTER 2**

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FBI Headquarters was a busy building. Agents rushed in and out of elevators, through hallways, and in and out of offices. No one had the neither the time nor the patience to stop and chat or share a kind glance. The day had barely begun, and already, there was a bitter mood in the atmosphere, especially when Special Agent Dana Scully exited the elevator. That partially had to do with the fact that she and her partner hadn't had sleep since before they finished their last case and partially because it was Scully. In the entire building, she had two friends…her partner and her boss. Scully wasn't very social when it came to anyone else, and she didn't care to be. She was there to do her job, and she did it well. As she walked down the hallway, the heavy _clip clop_ of her black, high heels attracted all sorts of attention that she automatically ignored. Scully was in too big of a hurry to be concerned by awkward stares. Hanging over the tops of her shoes was a pair of black slacks, accompanied by a matching jacket and a simple white dress shirt. If one looked closely, he would notice a gold necklace barely hiding beneath the collar of her shirt; however, he would not expect it to hold a cross. Scully was a skeptic. She could not fathom the idea that some things could not be explained by science. As a scientist, a chemist, and a doctor, she relied on science to prove and explain even the most phenomenal events she and her partner encountered. She turned the corner and, unexpectedly, had to dodge a security guard. Her chin-length, red hair bounced slightly with her every stride. Dana Scully had a powerful aura, despite her petite figure. Her true height was five-foot-three, but her high-heels (that no one could run in like she could) added at least another three inches. She was thin and fit. Usually she wore a black knee-length skirt, but today she just didn't feel like it. Finally, she came to a halt in front of an open door, taking a deep breath before entering. The secretary nodded toward the door to her left. Entering cautiously, Scully sighed in relief to see that her partner was already there. She sat down next to him and looked at the man in front of them. The name plate on his desk read _Assistant Director Walter Skinner_. This was their boss.

"Agents," he greeted, in place of a _hello_. "I'll try to make this short. A young boy died this morning, in Boulder, Colorado of a mysterious cause…something about poisonous water." He went on to explain the particulars and handed Scully the file. Then, he briefly shared some suggestions.

"Can't the local police take care of this, sir?" asked Agent Scully.

"Well, that's what I think should have happened," he answered with a shrug, "but they prefer you guys take a look." Skinner raised his eyebrows, as if to say _whatever_, and continued. "I already booked your flights and hotel rooms. You leave this afternoon." He handed them each their own packet of flight and motel information.

Scully eyed her partner. It wasn't unusual for him to be this quiet, but she was surprised that he hadn't yet acknowledged her presence. "Mulder?" she said, interrupting his mental nap.

Special Agent Fox Mulder was one of a kind. He had first gotten involved in the X-Files because he wanted to find his sister, whom he believed had been abducted by aliens. As his work became more of a crusade to prove the existence of a government conspiracy, their section chief assigned Scully to be his partner and debunk his work. Unofficially, her job was to spy on him and shut down the X-Files, but it had never been her intent. Instead, Scully became Mulder's strongest advocate and always looked out for his best interest. She joined him in his attempt to uncover the truth about his sister and the government. Within only a few months, they were best friends, and she was the only person he would trust. Scully placed her hand on Mulder's, bringing him out of his trance. "What?" he blurted, somewhat startled. She smiled at him, and he half-grinned back. "I heard every word, I swear." She nodded and rose from her seat. After Skinner excused them, Mulder followed his partner out of the office, stretching out his arms. Then, he extended a hand to regain his balance. Scully faced him to say something but caught him in a yawn, consequently causing her to yawn in reply. "Well," he began, trying to hold in another yawn, "at least we'll be able to sleep on the plane."

"Tell me about it." Scully put her arm around her partner's waist and walked him to down the hall, back to the elevator. He was much taller than Dana, towering about a foot over her…perfect for times like this when he could put his arm behind her neck and rest it on her shoulder. Scully noticed they were getting the same cold stares she had gotten before by different people. She was used to it by now, but couldn't help chuckling at how silly she and her partner must look. They were dressed practically alike. He wore black, shiny shoes, silky, black slacks, and a heavy, black, wool jacket over a white shirt with a black tie. Scully recalled one case they were working on in Dallas when a couple of boys thought she and Mulder were door-to-door salesmen. _I don't blame them_, she thought to herself. They reached the elevator and rode it down to the basement, where their office was. "So, did Skinner say anything else about the case before I got there?" she asked.

Mulder shook his head as he leafed through the packets Skinner had given them, his short, brown, feathery hair barely shifting from its assigned position. Then he looked up at her and arched his eyebrows. "Six years together, Scully. You'd think that we'd be reading each other's minds by now." His face felt too heavy to give her a full grin, so he gave her another partial, which she returned sarcastically.

"Awe, and not get to hear your charming voice everyday?" she teased. They each grabbed an overcoat and headed back toward the door. "I guess we better get packed." She paused. "So, am I meeting you at your apartment or are you picking me up from mine?"

"Yours is closer to the airport; so I'll pick you up at your apartment."

"Okay, then. See you in a couple hours."

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**CHAPTER 3**

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Mulder was like clockwork…when he wanted to be. But this was not one of those times. Scully, however, couldn't be more relieved that he was running late because she wasn't anywhere close to being ready. One minute she was talking to her mom on the phone, and the next, she was waking up from a needed, but inconvenient catnap. All she knew was that she must have finished her conversation before lying down because the phone had been returned to its cradle on her nightstand. She was just packing her carry-on when she heard a knock at the door. "It's open," she yelled from her bedroom. Her partner entered and gestured to the two small suitcases in the front room. She nodded and zipped up the bag in front of her as he left with the other two. Scully locked up quickly, followed Mulder to the taxi he had waiting, and hopped in the backseat. She didn't especially enjoy cab rides, but they were a convenient source of transportation at times like this. _Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times_, she thought to herself, a little disappointed that she couldn't share this joke with her partner who was sitting in the passenger seat. Within only an hour, they were through security and in the middle of chaos. "What gate are we?" asked a bewildered Scully, trying to be heard over the crowd.

"Seven! Gate seven!" Mulder pointed to his left, her right, and then pressed his hand on her back, guiding her through the horde. "Right on time," he sighed as they walked straight onto the plane. He looked back to see if they were the last ones, but they were being followed by a handful of people who looked like they had never flown before in their lives. The two agents found their seats effortlessly. They had done this more times than they could count. Mulder chuckled. "Doesn't matter how often you fly, the chaos never gets…well, less chaotic."

"That's for sure," Scully agreed. While Mulder thumbed through a magazine he had found in the pocket of the seat in front of him, Scully reviewed the file Skinner had given them. Reading and rereading all the information on the young boy, Scully became a little more intrigued by the case. "You know," she began, "it seemed strange to me before that they called in the big guns, but read this part, right here." Mulder silently read the paragraph above her fingertip and looked at her indifferently. "Mulder, the boy took a sip of the water, grabbed his throat, and within seconds, he was _dead_. That doesn't seem odd to you?" Mulder was about to say something, but Scully interrupted. "I already thought about that," she said, completely unaware that he hadn't even said anything yet. "But even if it was any naturally-occurring poison, I don't think he would have reacted that way." Mulder opened his mouth in another attempt to make a new point, but she beat him again. "Arsenic, cyanide, and strychnine are definite possibilities," she confirmed, "but we will still need to run tests to be sure we aren't dealing with chemical dumping."

Mulder shook his head and smiled. "Scully, I was wrong." She arched her eyebrows in quiet curiosity. "I guess you can read my mind, after all." She laughed and replaced the file in her bag.

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They got off the plane drearily. Apparently neither of them was able to get any sleep during the flight. Scully stepped to the side of the crowd and stopped to yawn and wipe sleep from the corners of her eyes. "How long have we been up, Mulder?" she inquired, trying not to sound too disgusted.

He looked at his watch for a long moment. "Not counting the time difference, of course…and your little catnap earlier…" he threw her a glance that made her smirk. Then he paused as if he was still trying to interpret his watch, "…about twenty-seven hours."

Scully shook her head in a _that's-ridiculous _fashion. "Okay. Motel, here we come."

"Thank you, God." Mulder took her arm as they walked out of the airport and into the rental car place. "Nice of Skinner to set this up for us, huh?" Mulder mused with a hint of sarcasm. Scully didn't respond. She just retrieved the information the assistant director had given them, and soon they had a car.

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**CHAPTER 4**

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In her motel room, Scully tossed and turned in her sleep. _They are walking through what appears to be an abandoned warehouse. The image is cloudy and hard to follow. Scully looks down at her hands and sees a gun, ready to be fired. What could they possibly be looking for? She looks at her partner and notices his gun, too, is out and ready. Suddenly, she hears a sharp, hair-raising cry and sees her partner fall to the ground. It seems to happen quickly and in slow-motion at the same time, building even more onto the confusion she already harbored. Responsively, Scully lunges to her partner's side, searching for his mysterious wound. There it is. "Oh, my God," she gasps, letting her head tilt in comprehension. Scully feels tears sting her eyes as she removes a knife from Mulder's stomach with a shaky hand, and then covers his bleeding lesion with the other. She looks around wildly, only to see they are completely alone. She returns her gaze to her best friend. There isn't much time left for him, and there's nothing she can do. The better part of her life spent in medical training, and there was nothing she could do to save him. The painful tears begin to flood her eyes and pour out as if a dam had just collapsed. Never in her life has she ever felt so helpless. "This isn't fair," she sobs, pressing her head against her partner's bleeding body. Mulder gasps for air, on the verge of fearful and sorrowful tears himself. Dana reaches her body up his and lies as close to her friend as she can. Caressing his face with a soft, feminine hand, she comforts Mulder, allowing him to relax for his final moments. She wants to kiss him. She has wanted to kiss him for a very long time, but it wasn't right. Watching Mulder's eyes lull shut as he takes his last breath, she parts her lips against his, unsure if he ever got to feel it._

Mulder awoke abruptly to the sound of his phone ringing. "Hello?" he answered in a scratchy voice. He could barely hear sniffling on the other end of the line, but he knew who it was. "Scully?"

She was obviously trying to hide the uneasiness in her voices as she began to speak. "I was just checking to see if you were okay," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Mulder sounded worried himself. "Are _you_ okay?" He heard her mumble what he assumed was an apology for waking him, and embarrassed, she hung up the phone. _I wonder what that was all about, _he wondered silently, and then fell back asleep.

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**CHAPTER 5**

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The next morning, Mulder knocked on Scully's motel room door. "Are you feeling better?" he asked when she opens the door. She moved to the side, letting him in, before responding to his question.

"Yes. Sorry about waking you. I just had a bad dream…that's all." Scully stared at a spot on the ground, diverting her eyes from his face. Though Mulder was curious about the dream, he knew she didn't want to discuss it any further, and he allowed the subject to drop as they proceeded to walk to a restaurant down the street. Even more than wondering about her dream, Mulder was wondering about the restaurant's breakfast menu. It had been hours since they had eaten anything besides the plane's peanuts.

"I have marked our map to make it easier for you to navigate," Mulder said through a full mouth. He handed her the paper between inhales of pancakes.

"Thank you." Scully's thanks were sincere, but her eyes and voice were distant, not quite directed at him. He leaned down and to the side, blocking her view to get her attention. "Thank you," she repeated, popping back into reality. She elevated her fork unsteadily and ate a bite of scrambled eggs. When she took the bite, a piece of egg stuck to the corner of her mouth, and Mulder unconsciously reached up to wipe it off. She flinched and held in her breath as his thumb touched her skin. Normally, Mulder's action would have gone unnoticed, but this time, Dana felt her heart jump, and she wished his hand would stay right where it was…against her skin…in the restaurant…out of harm's way.

Mulder held her face in his hand for a few seconds and then took her hand, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "What is it?" he asked, genuinely concerned. His partner waved his question away, but he persisted. "You can tell me anything. You know that."

"It's just that…" She paused, considering whether or not to tell him about the dream. Finally, she continued with a made up mind. "…this case gives me the creeps." When he gave her an elaborate, skeptical expression, she fired back her own famous _don't-push-me _look. He knew better, and listened.

Mulder and Scully pulled up to a ranch-style house in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. They stepped out of the rental car and approached the door. The door opened before Mulder could knock. "You're here!" a woman almost cried.

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances and turned back to the woman, nodding. "Yes, ma'am."

"I was hoping you'd find the place just fine." The woman paused, allowing the agents in the house. Then, she grabbed for each of their hands, one right after the other. "I am Bonnie. Bonnie Jacobson. Bobby's mother." She seemed to trail off when she said her son's name.

"Mrs. Jacobson," Scully began, "we are very sorry about your son."

"That's sweet. Thank you."

Scully continued. "But if you don't mind me asking, is there a _Mr._ Jacobson?"

"There was," Bonnie confirmed. "Not anymore, however." She left the front room for a few seconds, returning with three mugs. "Coffee?" Again, the agents exchanged glances and nodded. "He left when I got pregnant with Bobby." Bonnie seemed to be in a state of reminiscence. "We were young, you know? Nineteen. He wasn't ready to be a father, so he took off, and I moved in with my parents. Here, actually. They died about four years ago." Suddenly, she blinked back into the present time, finishing her story with, "I'm glad they aren't here to go through this." Then, she began to cry. Mulder looked at his coffee cup awkwardly, trying to avoid looking at the tearful woman. Scully, however, stepped up to give Bonnie her shoulder on which she cried even harder. Rubbing Mrs. Jacobson's back gently, Scully glanced at her partner, surprised by his reaction to the woman's sorrow. She knew her partner better than anyone, and this was out of character for him. Mulder was an extremely sensitive man. That's one of his qualities she admired and loved the most. But, instead, he seemed uncomfortable. She eyed him for a second and, then, returned her attention to Mrs. Jacobson, who was in the process of pulling herself together. "I'm sorry," she whimpered through a stuffed nose and the last of her tears. "I thought for sure I would have run out of those by now." Scully smiled sympathetically, knowing Bonnie was referring to the tears.

"It's completely understandable," Scully assured her and gave her an almost motherly shoulder rub. Bonnie sat on the couch, and Scully sat next to her, Mulder taking the chair across the coffee table from them. "Now, Mrs. Jacobson," she continued, "please share with us only what you feel comfortable telling us, and feel free to take your time. We are only here to help."

"Thank you for your understanding and concern," Bonnie smiled, "but I'm afraid I don't really know what to say. I already told the police everything I know, which isn't very much."

Scully pulled out the file and paraphrased its contents, excluding the autopsy report. No mother should have to hear about that. Then, Scully asked, "Is this everything you told them?"

"I'm afraid so." Bonnie looked disappointed that she couldn't give them more information. She felt so helpless. "I can make a couple phone calls, though, and have Alex and Sandra come."

Scully could sense the desire to be of some help in Bonnie's voice and thanked her. "That would be _very_ helpful," she said, hoping the emphasis on "very" would ease some of the woman's regret.

She smiled. "Okay, then. I'll be right back."

"Thank you," Scully smiled back. When Bonnie had left the room, Scully faced her partner. "Are you okay?" she asked, noticing the irony in her asking _him_ that after the way _she_ had been acting.

Mulder nodded without expression. "It must be so hard for her, Scully," he whispered.

Scully slanted her eyebrows sadly. "Well, of course it is, Mulder. But we've had cases that dealt with children before." There was no response, and Scully wasn't sure if she expected one. But before she could say anything else, Bonnie reentered the room.

"They'll be here shortly."

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Mulder and Scully left the Jacobson house two and a half hours later, not having learned anything new. They had just finished playing psychologist with Alex, Sandra, and all three mothers, and they were feeling terribly drained. Neither wanted to say what their trip to the house really was. A waste of time. So, instead, they returned to their motel in silence.


	2. Chapters 6 through 9

**Hello everyone! I was reading the reviews on chapters 1 through 5, and I have a confession to make. I noticed that you were showing concern about Mulder's odd reaction to Bonnie. Well, I feel it is important to remember we don't always get the answers we want in X-Files! Sorry. However, if you do have any ideas about why he may have been acting that way, feel free to share them in your reviews!**

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**CHAPTER 6**

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When they got there, Scully sat at her laptop, researching power plant locations and browsing the U.S.G.S. website. Copying and pasting articles from the web to her notes, looking up different chemicals and calculating their reactions with other chemicals, and making phone calls here and there kept her busy for the whole rest of the day. Mulder had stopped by earlier to head out for lunch, but she graciously declined the invitation. She had a lot of work to do. By dinner time, however, her partner insisted that she eat something and dragged her (almost literally) to the same little restaurant. They were seated immediately, and Mulder attempted to take her mind off of work. "So," he began, clearing his throat, and paused, thinking of a worthy subject, "I guess you're hungry!" He closed his eyes regretfully, avoiding her, most likely, arching eyebrows. That wasn't what he had meant to say. Thankfully, he opened his eyes to find his partner buried in the menu. Apparently, she hadn't heard him. "I missed you at lunch today," he said, finally grabbing her attention. He set his menu down, already knowing what he wanted.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I had to eat alone. Not good for the ego, you know." Casually, he smiled at her, awaiting a reply that he had predicted.

"Well, Mulder, it's probably good for yours."

"Ouch! Ice, ice, baby." He had been prepared.

They both laughed and ordered their dinner. A few minutes later, Scully sipped at her water and jumped back into a professional mode. "So, what did you find?"

Mulder knew she was referring to the case, and answered her despite his prior attempt. He was quite used to defeat. "Well," he grunted, in a promising tone, "I found out that there was some chemical dumping, after all. Although," he said, regretfully, "I couldn't find out what chemicals."

Scully appeared to be pleased. "Thank you, Mulder."

"For what?"

"Well, now I know that's what was going on." He was waiting for her to say more. "I did a lot of research today, while you were away, and what I found may help us solve this case."

The waitress walked up, almost unnoticed, and placed a plate of spaghetti in front of each of them. "That would be wonderful, Scully. Lord knows I could use the sleep." He prompted his partner to voice her findings, though she wasn't able to answer until she swallowed her first bite of food.

Finally, she said, "I was looking up power plant information and chemicals that may have been released into the environment." She glanced at her partner's hopeful and interested expression and smiled mischievously. "Unfortunately, that wasn't it." Mulder looked at her as if she had just kicked him under the table and gave her a _what-are-you-doing-to-me _eyebrow-raise. She laughed, "Sorry. But multiply that feeling by a hundred, and you might get a drift of how I spent my day." He relaxed, trusting she would tell him her final theory as he began to eat his dinner. "Anyway, I couldn't put a name to the chemicals that I believe were responsible, but I have the formulas. I think that the ones being dumped may be," she paused, pulling out a post-it and pointing to two long strings of element symbols and numbers, "this chemical and this one." On a side note, she added, "I couldn't name them because the formulas are foreign to me."

"And?" Mulder cued, still not understanding what the two formulas had to do with each other.

"And…alone these chemicals don't do anything. However, their combination creates a poison. I hadn't even considered it until I did the math." She rolled on, hyped by her own momentum. "You see, take this toxin to which Bobby had been exposed and split it at the third double bond. Separately, both chemicals are harmless, but when the enzymes bring them together, it becomes very fatal. I think that's what happened in this case. These men thought they had been dumping perfectly safe chemicals, not knowing the repercussions it would have on the environment or the people living there."

Mulder grinned, proud to have Scully as his partner. She wasn't only the smartest _woman _he knew, but she was the smartest _person_ he knew. It was moments like this that he was thrilled she had been assigned to him all those years ago. "Excellent work, Agent Scully," he beamed, almost mimicking their superior. She smiled her thanks and returned to her dinner. As Mulder sat and watched her, he couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach. He felt that a lot when he was around her, and had been especially for the last two years. She was his best friend, the one and only person he could trust with his life. Though her beauty was nothing less than spectacular and overwhelming in his eyes, it was qualities such as her strength, determination, and absolute loyalty to him that attracted him to her the most. It was memories like the ones where she had put her own job, or even life, on the line to protect him. She would rather accept unfairness and torture than see him harmed. How could he _not_ respect that? How could he _not _fall completely in love with that about her?

Scully glanced at him, looked away, and then did a double take, returning her gaze to her partner curiously. "What?" she asked Mulder, who had been staring at her. He came out of the trance, suddenly, and heard her say, "Gees, it's like I'm a goldfish in a fishbowl."

"Sorry," he laughed uncomfortably. "I was just thinking."

She smiled, still curious. "About what?" she asked sweetly.

Mulder was tempted to tell her, but he knew better. He had been hiding his true feelings for two years. It would be stupid of him to ruin everything they had by letting her know now. "About the case," he lied. "I can't imagine what Mrs. Jacobson must be going through."

"I know," she shrugged. "I know it's selfish, Mulder, but I am so glad that I'll never have to experience anything like that." She choked on her words as soon as she said them, and Mulder felt for her. He knew she wanted kids more than almost anything, but after an abduction years before, she had been left barren. It was unfortunate, but at least she was alive. She had lost so much to Mulder's cause, to his quest to find the truth. She had lost her chance for motherhood, her sister, her reputation, but at least she was still alive. He moved forward to console her, but she put up a hand, saying she was fine. "What were you _really_ thinking about?" He backed up defensively. "I know you too well, Mulder."

"Why are you asking me?" he asked tauntingly, "I thought you could read my mind." Scully retreated reluctantly, and they both finished their dinner quietly. The agent returned to his thoughts and decided maybe it was time he faced his fears.

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**CHAPTER 7**

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"What are you doing, Mulder?" Scully asked back in his motel room. He stepped up to the radio, fiddled with a knob, and it came to life with music.

He started to mimic an old love song jokingly.

Scully rolled her eyes, wondering what the hell he was thinking.

"Just kidding," he grinned and changed the station. Now the voices of REO Speedwagon echoed in the room, and Mulder made a point of turning it up so that every word was audible.

It was the words of "Can't fight this feeling."

Scully tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes again. "What are you do--?"

"Shhh," Mulder hushed her, nodding in the direction of the radio. He walked up to her slowly and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Scully was in the process of realizing this wasn't a joke, and it made her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't necessarily want him to stop. Though the words were hazy as her attention was now split between them and her partner's gentle hand, they continued to sing to her. They continued to speak to her on behalf of her nervous friend…her other half.

She tensed as he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her face closer to his, her heart pounding. "This is too fast," she whispered to him as he sweetly kissed the corner of her mouth. Her mind clouded. As Dana stood there and realized what she wanted most was happening, she decided not to pull away. This wasn't right, but it's not like she ever got recognized for doing what was right anyway. Scully had to admit to herself that Mulder's song was a good choice. The band couldn't have said it better. She slightly smiled at the thought of them having a song together as the chorus continued.

Mulder rubbed his lips against hers, ever so lightly. They were soft…tender…warm… His lips parted to tell her something, but Scully misinterpreted it and kissed him, parting her lips just enough to feel the warm, ductile sensation of his tongue against her own. Mulder didn't argue. He pulled her into him so tightly that she couldn't breathe, causing her to pull back. He watched a timid tear steam down her cheek, and he knew he had made the right decision, for she leaned in for a second kiss. This one would not be as gentle. So much passion had been bottled up inside them for so long, that it was all they could do keep from swallowing each other whole. The radio had been playing behind him, even though the song had finished unobserved, and Mulder stretched back to turn it off before pushing her, almost forcefully, to the bed. She wasn't sure whether she would make him stop or go along with it.

Oh, how she ached to lie down and go along with it, wanting his closeness more than anything in the world. But she didn't have to make that choice; it was made for her when Mulder's motel room phone rang. At first, he considered not answering it, but on the second ring, Mulder leapt from the bed for the receiver. Meanwhile, a flushed Scully rubbed her hands down her face, surprised by her own humility. "Mulder," she heard him say into the phone. There was a long moment of silence as she studied his face for a sign of who might be on the other end. His expression was serious, and that made her nervous. He hung up without another word. "Grab your coat," he told her, "we gotta go."

"Who was it?" she asked running behind him to the car.

"I don't know, but he knows us, and he knows Bonnie Jacobson."

"What are you talking about?"

"Whoever that was told me her life is in danger, and that we might already be too late."

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**CHAPTER 8**

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Bonnie Jacobson walked through the kitchen to the front door. "Who is it?" she called to the person ringing her doorbell.

A male voice answered, "Agents Mulder and Scully. Ma'am, are you okay?" The door opened, and Bonnie stood in front of them, displaying a confused expression. "Are you okay?" he repeated.

"All things considered…why?"

Scully allowed Mulder to take the lead since he hadn't explained the phone call any further than what he told her on their way out of the room. In fact, he hadn't even spoken to her since then. "I don't mean to alarm you, ma'am, but we have reason to believe you may be in danger."

"Why?" Bonnie looked more than alarmed, and the agents couldn't blame her.

"I don't have very much information, Mrs. Jacobson, but I do have a _feeling_."

"A _feeling_?" she echoed skeptically.

Scully chimed in, in defense of her partner, "Bonnie," she began, trying to give the house call a more personal atmosphere, "Agent Mulder received a phone call just before we left the motel, warning him that you may be in danger." She avoided the man's eyes, knowing they would be staring her down for telling Mrs. Jacobson the truth. She tried to get back on his good side by saying to Bonnie, "There's probably nothing to even worry about, but better safe than sorry."

Mrs. Jacobson nodded her understanding and asked, "What do I have to do?"

Now it was Mulder who spoke. "Really, we haven't gotten a chance to think about that. We were more focused on making sure you hadn't been harmed already." He paused in thought. "What do you want to do? Is there a place you can go where you can feel safer for the time being? Where we could contact you if need be?"

Bonnie thought, her eyes staring to an invisible spot on the ceiling. "Yes, actually. My-"

"Don't tell us," Mulder interrupted, "just in case someone is listening." He noticed that the idea had startled her and turned to Scully before turning back. "As Agent Scully said, 'better safe than sorry.'"

"Okay." She was calm now and pulled out a pen and paper. She wrote down a name and phone number. "Do you need anything more than this?" She handed to paper to Mulder, and he shook his head.

"Good luck," he said. "Call us if there's a problem of any kind."

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Mulder and Scully had just begun their journey back to the motel when Scully asked if they could go back to the cliff where Bobby had died. Mulder made a U-turn and drove to the cliff. The car came to a halt, and Scully jumped out, walking directly to the bruise in the earth. "Do you have any evidence baggies or containers in there?" she called back to him. He joined her at the base of the cliff with one of each. Carefully, she turned the baggie inside-out, using it as a glove to grab dirt and mud from the bruise, then returned it to its right-side-out and sealing its contents. After handing the evidence bag to her partner, she used a pocket knife to scrape away clay that had plugged the water leak. She allowed some of the liquid into the container for further study in a lab. Mulder relieved her of the container as well, so she could return to car with both hands free. Things like this came natural to him. He never considered himself to be a chivalrous guy, but for her, he would alleviate her from having to open doors or carry things any day.

She got in the car and took the evidence through the window once she had buckled her seatbelt. "Mulder," she almost slurred in exhaustion, "let's go home to run these. There's no reason for us to stay here until we have some results." She watched him agree with a nod of his head as he got in the driver's seat of the car. She put her own seat back to lie down, falling asleep before he could get back on the road.

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**CHAPTER 9**

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"We need to talk," Mulder heard his partner say.

"Yes, we do." He walked across his room to where she was standing at his apartment door, and the agents both waited for the other to speak. "I'll start," Mulder finally said. He moved to the side, letting her in, and guided her to the couch by the small of her back. They sat down and faced each other, perhaps closer than they normally would. "Dana…" Her heart leapt at the sound of his voice uttering her first name. "…I really don't know how to say this without being, well, cliché. So I'm just going to come out and say it." He studied her face as he spoke each word, "I love you. I am so in love with you that I can hardly breathe when I'm around you." Mulder wasn't sure how she was taking his news. While her face displayed a hint of shock, he couldn't decide whether it was good or bad. "Scully?"

She shook her head slowly, worrying him slightly, and then smiled. "Me too."

Relieved, he blew out air and took her hand. If anyone could appreciate her confession, Mulder could. He knew, more than anyone, that she was not the type of person to be open with her feelings, and even those two little words opened doors that she might be too uncomfortable to walk through. He worried about that a great deal. "However, I don't want this to change what we have," he continued.

"I do," she said, throwing him off balance. "I want it to change for the better." Now it was he who looked stunned. "If anyone could make this work, we can, Mulder. I think deep, down inside we always have been." He smiled widely and took his partner into an embrace. He couldn't think of a single moment in his life that he had felt happier, but he had a feeling things would be getting even better. Dana stood up and pulled him up after her. She looked as if she wanted to say something but changed her mind, smiling instead. He wouldn't have even noticed, except he couldn't take his eyes off of her face.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking that it might be…nice…to try that kiss again."

"What?" he repeated, getting excited.

"Maybe this time we won't be interrupted." Never, in his wildest dreams, did he ever imagine she would be the one to encourage such an unprofessional relationship, and yet, there she was doing it. Insuring there would be no interruptions, he humorously unplugged his phones then hurled his body into hers playfully and wrapped his arms around her. Scully couldn't help laughing through his immature, powerful kiss and returned the embrace, rubbing his neck and head. He lightly ran his fingers up and down the sides of her face and gazed into her eyes. But when he felt weakened by her seductive gaze back, he altered his focus to kissing her knuckles and then her neck. Scully felt the bed bump the back of her knees, which startled her because she hadn't been aware that they had even been moving. _Déjà vu_, she thought. Only this time, gravity took its toll, and she lied down, feeling completely overwhelmed by how much of his sweet scent filled the air. His cold hands caressed her skin, and she got goose bumps, but only for a second.

Dana closed her eyes so that every feeling would be enhanced as he straddled her body and lied down on top of her. Though their clothes were still on, she knew her partner would remedy that in no time. First, their outer clothing went, and then, after a moment of just staring at her, he slowly removed her underwear.

Only seconds later they were completely skin to skin, and he was rubbing his wet lips across her bare chest and the same sweaty fingers he had used to get her ready up and down the middle of her torso. Everything happened quickly and painfully all at once when he thrusted into her, and she cried out, arching her back in initial shock and instant pleasure. _Oh, God!_ Dana bit down on her lower lip to keep it from quivering as her mind tried to comprehend the paralyzing jolt that had just brought tears to her eyes. Mulder lied back down and covered her mouth with another passionate kiss, sharing her breath for a long moment. She couldn't seem to move, but she could feel everything. He continued to kiss her again and again, and she began to lose track of which tongue was hers, except for when he was kissing her in other places. He seemed to favor her neck and chest but always returned to her trembling lips. She was mesmerized by a rhythm that she wasn't surprised her partner had and, for an eternity, didn't think she could live without. _Don't ever stop…_ As her eyes rolled back to his heavy and elaborate motion, she made a mental vow to return the pleasure, and that was something she **definitely **knew how to do.

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The next morning they warmly acknowledged what they had done. "Oh, my gosh," Mulder groaned comfortably to his partner who had just awaken in his arms. Their legs were tangled among each other's.

"Good morning," she greeted in a hoarse voice, which made him smile proudly.

"Yes it is," he grinned and pulled her even more tightly into his arms if at all possible. "I should have done this a long time ago," Mulder said in a half teasing, half sincere tone.

"Told me how you feel?"

"No," he laughed, "slept with a doctor!" She couldn't help but laugh with him, although she wasn't sure what being a doctor had to do with anything. "You sure do know anatomy well."

Dana giggled and blushed, slightly embarrassed by the compliment. Then she forced herself to grin proudly at her accomplishment. "Apparently, so do criminal profilers." She couldn't be more sincere about that if she tried. If her body hadn't still ached from the night before, she would have been tempted to go another round. Instead, she curled up around her partner, absorbing his warmth, and dreamed about it.

Mulder watched twelve minutes go by on his clock as he lied in his bed holding her. He was combing his fingers through her hair and considering calling in sick for both of them when there was an urgent knock at the door. He jumped up to go answer it. "Stay in here," he said, almost whispering.

"Where would I go?" Dana whispered back, mockingly, and rolled her eyes in a teasing manner.

"…Right…" Mulder threw on his boxer shorts and grabbed a robe as he walked to the door.

"Agent Mulder!" yelled a familiar, irritated voice through the door as he opened it.

"_Sir_!" Mulder forced himself to tranquilize quickly and attempted to greet his boss again. "I mean…sir…what can I do for you at this hour?" he asked, trying to sound normal.

"Do you realize that I have been trying to reach you and Agent Scully _all_ night?" he growled.

"Oh? Uh, well, you see, Agent Scully had a thing last night, so she hasn't been home, and I-"

"A thing? What thing? Where is she?"

Mulder panicked inside his head as he tried to come up with something reasonable. "Family thing," he finally said. "She didn't go into detail, and I didn't see it was any of my business to pursue it."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Actually, sir, I am expecting her soon. She was going to stop by, uh, here to drop off the results on some samples we took in Colorado." Mulder was proud of himself. "What is it that you need, sir?"

"Well, I have some information on the case for you, but I was hoping to talk to you and Scully together. So, if you don't mind, I think I'll just wait for her to get here." Though Mulder was kicking himself inside, he didn't show any sign of it. "So, what's the matter with your phone?"

"Huh?"

"Your phone…" Skinner gestured to the cord that had been unplugged.

"Oh, _that_. Yeah, I must have pulled it loose when I tripped over it last night. I-I always trip over…cords." _Well, that was smooth, _Mulder thought to himself sarcastically.

"So, when did you say you were expecting Agent Scully?"

Now was his chance. "Honestly, sir, she didn't give a specific time. So, I don't know exactly. But as soon as she gets here, we can just meet you at your office."

Skinner seemed frustrated.

"Or you can just tell me now, and I'll pass the information onto her."

"I guess that'll just have to do."

"Okay…good. Can I get dressed first?" Mulder requested.

"Please do."

Mulder ran into the bedroom expecting to find Scully still in his bed, but instead, the bed was empty, and steam was rising from the bottom of the bathroom door. Without even thinking, he walked inside. Luckily, nothing embarrassing made him regret it, but as soon as he entered, he looked back at the door, realizing the risk he had taken. "What are you _doing_?" he whispered through the shower curtain.

"You solve murders everyday, and that's the question you ask me?" She poked her head out the side of the curtain. "Need to take a shower?"

"Man-oh-man, Scully, I might have been more interested if _Skinner_ wasn't in the next room." Volume-wise, his voice was still a whisper, but the tone suggested he was yelling.

She cringed, whispering now, as well, "_Skinner_?"

Mulder nodded, resentfully. "He wants to talk to both of us."

"_Us_?_ Us_? He knows I'm here?"

"No." Mulder was trying not to think about her invitation to join her in the shower as he examined the silhouette of her body behind the curtain. But his attention had been recaptured by her famous eyebrow-raise. "Please don't ask me why, but I told him I was expecting you soon, and now he wants to wait for you to get here." He avoided looking at her face, figuring his imagination would probably display a less threatening glare than her true expression. "But, I was thinking that I could have him walk with me downstairs to get my mail, and you could run out of the room and pretend like you just got here."

Scully began to consider this, but shattered his hopes when she sarcastically lit up and said, "Maybe he _won't _notice that I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday." He blushed. That hadn't occurred to him. She would have stopped there, but his confused expression hadn't changed, making her think he didn't get the point yet. "Or, maybe," she teased, "I can just wear _your_ clothes." Mulder knew she was just kidding and didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but it always reassured him when an angelic grin followed. "Mulder," she murmured soothingly, "the mail box is a good idea. It will give me a chance to get out of here. But if this is going to become a habit, I may need to start bringing a change of clothes." She disappeared back into the shower, but she must have been finished because the water shut off.

"Mulder, I don't have all day," came Skinner's voice from the other room.

Mulder leapt into a pair of jeans and put on a T-shirt. "Sorry, sir. I was checking my voice mail. As it turns out, Scully won't be joining us anyway. Something came up."

"Is everything okay?" Skinner asked, wearing his best concerned expression.

"Everything's wonderful," Mulder smiled, distracted. "She just won't make it back 'til tomorrow."

Mulder carried out his plan by going downstairs to get his mail, allowing Scully to escape, while Skinner shared the news with him about their case.

Later that morning, Skinner left Mulder's apartment as a saint. He had given Mulder, not only an environmental history, but also the name of the company dumping the chemicals near Bonnie Jacobson's neighborhood. Mulder had asked him how he was able to get his hands on such information, but Skinner only claimed to have friends in high places. Mulder called his partner that afternoon to fill her in on the details. She told him that the lab results wouldn't be ready for another week or so because of the complicated calculations and compounds involved, not to mention that their tests were never considered high priority due to the prejudice against the X-Files. Once the results were in, however, they wasted no time to review their new puzzle pieces. Mulder and Scully sat on his couch and laid out every bit of evidence and information they had across the coffee table. For a long while, they just stared at the table, as if an ultimate answer would leap out, into their laps. When one didn't, Scully shrugged helplessly. "Mulder, it looks like we're going to have to go back there to close this case. There's just too much else we need to investigate before we can let the local law enforcement take over."

"When you're right, Scully, you are right."


	3. Chapters 10 through 13

**My apologies if the last chapter was a bit mushy for your taste, and I feel I should apologize in advance for what I am going to put you all through in this next series of chapters. However, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel if you trust me and keep on reading. Thank you much, and have a lover-ly read!**

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**CHAPTER 10**

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Though Mulder and Scully were used to long hours and flying last minute, they had talked Skinner into allowing them another week to update their reports, do more research, and prepare new theories before their trip back to Colorado. This extra time also allowed them to focus on the development of their very secret, very overdue, and very sexual relationship. Skinner had never allowed them extra time during a case, but he thought they needed more time to research. (Mulder and Scully would chuckle at this in private.) When they _did _return to Boulder, the agents felt less obligated to keep the local PD up to speed without Bonnie Jacobson there. "So far, you are right on target," Mulder laughed as he and his partner waltzed from the car to a nearby construction site. She raised her eyebrows as if to ask him what he was he was talking about. "About the chemicals. You brought the test results home, and we found that the toxins in the water could, in fact, be split into two harmless chemicals." She grinned proudly. "So we are checking the rest of that theory now, right?" Scully nodded. "What if it doesn't check out?"

"Then we start looking for other possibilities. Guess and check, you know." They came to the outer ring of a loud group of men in dirty overalls and hardhats. "Excuse me!" Scully yelled over the noise in an authoritative tone. It was times like these her partner had to actually try not to chortle at how cute she was. "Can someone please tell me where we can find the manager?" All the men started walking towards her, examining her feminine figure intrusively, at which point a possessive Mulder stepped in front of her.

"She asked where your manager is!" he shouted. Giving him dirty looks, a few of the men pointed at a small temporary office a little further up the hill. The workers made sure that the agents would have to walk through their crowd to get to it by spreading out in front of them. "How nice," Mulder whispered to Scully sarcastically. He held her shoulders protectively as they split the horde and approached the shack-like office. There were many whistles and frustrated grunts in the crowd as he did so. Mulder knocked, and the door was opened by a clean-cut, professionally dressed, elderly man, but before they entered, he noticed one worker staring at them suspiciously. "Who is that?" he asked the manager, trying to be discrete.

The manager barely glanced, already knowing to whom Mulder was referring. "That is Mario Sanchez. He's an odd one, alright, but a good worker…very dedicated to the team."

Mulder smiled his thanks and placed that new piece of information on the back burner for the time being. It didn't mean anything yet, but it may later.

"Sir, do you use or come across any chemicals in your work here?" Scully asked, wasting no time.

"Sure we do. There are a lot of chemicals involved in building and…why?"

The agents exchanged "oops" looks, realizing they hadn't even introduced themselves yet. Scully answered, using her authoritative voice again. "We are FBI agents," she said as they exposed their badges for the first time in the duration of this entire case, "and we are investigating what we believe to be the source of toxins that are being created in the local water system." The manager straightened. He, suddenly, seemed to be done sharing information. "Sir, we aren't here to bust your company for chemical dumping, however, we do need to know what chemicals are being dumped. Many lives depend on it."

"We do no chemical dumping here," he said gruffly. "We go strictly by the book."

Scully glanced at the primitive construction workers, doubting they were even _capable _of going "strictly by the book." Then she returned her attention to the manager. "Off the record?" she offered.

Mulder was about to remind her that they needed the information for their reports, but he realized that wasn't really the point now. The point was finding out what chemicals were in the water so that they could save people's lives. The manager considered telling them what he knew "off the record" and decided to be of help. "Okay, as long as it's off the record, we have been dumping chemicals. But they aren't toxic! That's for sure. I checked them myself."

"Sir, we have reason to believe that despite their safety independently, a chemical reaction is occurring among them, creating toxic solutions," Scully informed.

"Well, I don't know anything about that," he shrugged cooperatively.

"We weren't expecting you to," Mulder chimed in. "Which is why we would like your permission to take adequate samples of all the chemicals you dump or 'come across' in this project."

"'Come across?' Okay. I don't see why not." He guided them to another area on the site where they saw buckets and barrels of liquid. "You guys can take it all as far as I care."

They smiled and said in unison, "That won't be necessary."

Mulder and Scully filled and labeled sample containers until they had some of everything. It took them a lot longer than they had anticipated and didn't get back on the road until after dark. "You know, Mulder, maybe we should get some more samples of the stream and river water just in case."

"In case of what?"

"Well, these chemicals we have may not turn up anything useful, so we should have samples of the water too. Perhaps one or more of the chemicals being dumped are reacting to a natural chemical."

"That's my Scully, always thinking." She smiled to herself as he turned the car toward their favorite cliff. It was so late by the time they were headed back to the motel that they decided to forfeit the money and head straight for the airport. To their surprise, the motel reimbursed the FBI every cent for that night. They said they didn't need the rooms anyway and insisted it was only fair. ("Anything for the FBI.")

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**CHAPTER 11**

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Back in D.C. by the next morning, Scully took their samples directly to the lab. She explained to the FBI chemist what it was she was looking for and what she was hoping to prove. The chemist nodded her head in understanding, and they bid farewell. This was one of those things Scully would have felt more comfortable doing herself because chemistry was so often about figuring things out by accident. What if the other girl found what they were looking for without even knowing it? This bothered Scully all the way to her partner's apartment, but she insisted to herself that it would be fine. They would have an answer soon, and all would be well. Bonnie would be able to return home safely, and they could finally explain to her what killed her son and assure her it would not happen to anyone else. Scully contemplated what Mrs. Jacobson's reaction to hearing the good news would be. She imagined it would be very bittersweet and decided to think about something happier. She pulled up to the curb and parked, checking the time to see if it was late enough to not have to put quarters in the meter. It was only four o'clock. _Man, _she thought, _it sure feels like it's later_. After six, parking was free, so she put in two dollars worth of quarters and headed for the glass door of the apartment complex. She had had copies of all Mulder's keys since their second year of working together, as he did hers. Despite that, she still knocked when she came to his door.

"Hey, you're early," he greeted pleasantly.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Don't be. Let me microwave the popcorn really quick, and we can start the movie."

"Sounds good." She followed him into the living room and sat on the couch while he headed off to the kitchen. The movie was already in the VCR, and the case was lying on top. "_Las Vegas Vacation_, Mulder?" To be fair, it was a lot better than _Caddyshack_, which was the last movie they watched together. Every time they watched it, she would tease him, saying it's a guy's movie.

"It's not Christmas yet, so I figured the Las Vegas one would have to do." He entered the room with two glasses of wine and handed her one. Then the microwave buzzer went off, and he disappeared into the kitchen again, reappearing with a bowl of popcorn a few seconds later. "Cheers," he said, clinking their glasses as he sat down next to her.

They sipped at the wine for a minute in silence, and then Scully set her glass on the table. She took Mulder's glass and placed it next to hers. "You know what?" she said.

"What?" Scully, his FBI partner, had transformed into Dana, his girlfriend, in front of his eyes as she slid closer to him and kissed him. Intimacy was never something they lacked, but this was more profound. Mulder couldn't be more head over heels in love with her, and he couldn't thank God enough every time she showed him that she felt the same. If he could freeze this moment for all eternity, that would be enough. "I want you to move in," he whispered into her mouth, nipping at her bottom lip as he did.

"Don't you think that'll let the cat out of the bag?" she whispered back, shifting her weight closer and closer to him as they held each other.

"It isn't fair," he sighed, resting his chin in her auburn hair. Agreeing but not responding, she laid down on the couch with her head in his lap, and he turned on the movie. Staring down at her, Mulder petted her hair and rubbed his hand lightly across her cheek and lips, prompting her to kiss his fingers. The movie began, and the couple watched it quietly, except for when they were laughing.

Almost an hour later, the phone rang. Mulder answered it as Scully sat up to hit the pause button. "Mulder," he said in a deep voice. "What? Who is this?" Scully gave her partner a questioning look which he acknowledged only by shaking his head. He stood and walked to the window, looking down at the sidewalk for whatever reason. Finally, he hung up the phone and turned off the movie and the television set completely. He seemed to be rushing.

"Who was that?" Scully asked in a partial panic.

"Come on," was all he said until they were out the door. He ran down the hall to the elevator with his partner barely at his heels. When inside, he told her, "I think we are being watched."

"By whom?"

"Remember that construction worker that was staring at us?"

"Him?"

"Yeah. I think I saw him on a payphone outside the building at the same time I was on the phone."

"So?"

"So, that was the same voice of the guy who called me at the motel that night in Colorado." The elevator doors opened revealing the first floor, and Mulder jogged out the glass doors Scully had entered an hour earlier. The man on the payphone had indeed been Sanchez, as Mulder verified when he got a few yards away. Sanchez had been walking to his car when he caught sight of Mulder with his peripheral vision, and then he ran to the car. "Give me the keys!" Mulder yelled to Scully as he dashed toward the car she had driven there. They jumped in, and the chase was on.

"What did he say on the phone?"

"He said more people will die if we don't leave the construction team out of our investigation."

"Well that sounds like a confession to me."

"I don't know. This guy's crazy, Scully. I don't think he has much of a clue what's really going on, but I do believe he is capable of murder. He'd probably do anything to protect his team, even if they don't need the protection."

"We'll see about that when the test results are ready." Mulder followed the car down an alley to an abandoned warehouse that Sanchez had entered. _Huh_, Scully thought to herself, _this feels oddly familiar_.

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**CHAPTER 12**

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They entered the warehouse cautiously, unsure of what to expect. Mulder and Scully had their weapons drawn and looked around, scanning the large room for possible hiding places. Unfortunately, there were many. Crates and garbage were piled along two of the four walls, the back and the right side. Scully took notice of the familiar surroundings of the abandoned warehouse and stiffened, white as a ghost. "What's wrong?" Mulder whispered so softly she could barely hear him.

"Mulder," she whispered back, "I have a really bad feeling about this. Maybe we should go call for back up." She recalled her dream mentally, but decided it was best to not explain it then.

"For one guy? He's in here somewhere. You just take that side, and I'll check the back."

"Mulder, no, let's just go. We'll find him and talk to him later. It's not worth it."

"Worth what?" All the while, Mulder had been quietly inching his way closer to a pile of crates as Scully inched her way to the door. When she answered his question with a pleading _just-trust-me _look, he joined her back at the door. "This is ridiculous," he barked and grabbed her arm. He was just pulling her back to the middle of the room when she saw a glimmer in the crates. Without thinking, she instinctively hurled her body in front of her partner as three sudden gunshots rang out. The third was from Mulder's gun, killing the shooter instantly. Mulder was quietly taking pride in his aim when Scully's knees began to give out, and he caught her from behind. "Sc-Scully?" he stuttered in a confused and panicky tone. He laid her on the ground, and that's when he saw them. She had been shot once in the stomach and once in the chest. He was completely dumbfounded. "Oh, my God," he could barely say. Then he just repeated it over and over again.

Scully's eyes fluttered wildly, trying to stay open, as she fought violently to breathe. In her dream, Mulder had been stabbed, but she had been shot. Though it didn't make sense to her, that wasn't a very important matter right then. "Mulder?" she gargled, terrified for her life.

"I'm right here." He scooped her upper body into his lap and cradled her. Mulder was trying not to cry because he didn't want to cause her anymore fear than she was already experiencing, but it came anyway. "I'm so sorry," he choked.

Speaking was tough for her, but there was so much she wanted to tell him. As a medical doctor, she knew she didn't have very long, so she tried to talk through the blood that was already pooling in her mouth. The last thing she wanted was for Mulder to blame himself. "You couldn't have known."

"It should have been me," he cried.

She began to choke on her own blood, and he tilted her head towards him, draining her mouth so she could breathe more easily. "I love you so much," she said.

Mulder shook his head, "No. Don't say that. People always die after they say that. Please don't go where I cannot be with you." For a second, he wasn't sure if she was still conscious, and his heart fell into his stomach.

Dana's words were soft and slightly slurred when they finally came. These, he knew, would be her last, and it broke his heart to hear them. "We will always be together." He gazed at her as she became still. There was no dramatic slump, no audible "last breath." It was almost as if she had simply fallen asleep. He began to sob into her and kissed her hair. He rocked her back and forth in his lap until he was emotionally exhausted. When he couldn't cry anymore, he assumed he had just run out of tears. Mulder looked down at his partner and used the cuff of his jacket sleeve to scrub dried blood from the corners of her mouth and her cheek, leaving pink stains on her face. Her hair was damp from his crying, but her clothes had dried around her fatal wounds. Mulder decided he had better call the police, but first, he called Skinner.

"Sir?"

"Agent Mulder? Is everything okay?"

No answer.

"Mulder, what's wrong?"

"Sir, I need your help."

"What happened?"

"I need you to come to the abandoned warehouse on Franklin. I, um, I'm afraid I have some…" Mulder did everything he could to not start crying again. "…bad news about Agent Scully."

"Oh no." Skinner's voice changed over the phone. Apparently, that was all Mulder had to say.

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Skinner arrived just before the medical examiners, and found Mulder inside. He was still cradling his lifeless partner and seemed to be talking to her until he heard his boss approaching. "Oh, Mulder," he shrugged sadly. Scully was one of his best agents, but she was also a friend. Most of all, however, he felt for Mulder, who still couldn't let her go. "The medical examiners are here. You'll need to let them take her."

He shook his head slowly, staring at her peaceful face. "I can't. If I let them take her, that's it."

"What do you mean?" Skinner walked up and put his hand on Mulder's shoulder.

"Even though she's gone, it doesn't really feel like it. Not yet. As long as she's in my arms, she's still with me." He looked up at his boss with glossy eyes. "If they take her, and she's not in my arms, then I will never get to hold her again." Skinner didn't know how to respond, so Mulder continued. "Sir, you don't know this, but Scully and I have been…together…for quite some time now." Skinner remained silent even though he had several new questions begging to be answered. "Almost every night for the past few weeks, I have held her in my arms…not so different from now…and I kissed her, and I loved her." He began to cry again. "And I will never be able to do that again." Skinner turned as he heard the medical examiners open the doors, and he put up an authoritative hand, telling them to give them another second. Returning his attention to his friend, he decided it was best to get Mulder out of the warehouse and home.

"Come on, Mulder. You need to let her go." He rubbed his shoulders and waved the MEs in to join them. He held Mulder's arms as they pried his partner from his grasp, and Mulder remained sitting in place until he heard them drive away. Only Skinner stayed with him. "I'll take you home and have someone come pick up the car."

"Sir, I think I should make a stop before I go home."

"Where?"

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Mulder rang the doorbell and could hear footsteps approaching the door. He was not looking forward to this at all, but he was at the point of no return since he had sent Skinner home after dropping him off. The door opened. "Fox…" Margaret Scully's attention was taken by his shirt, which was still soaked with blood, and the expression on her face made a quick transition from delight to fear. He said nothing. "Where's Dana?" she asked, not really wanting to hear the answer because she knew it was bad.

Though she had insisted that Mulder call her "Maggie" in the past, he resorted to what he felt most comfortable calling her. "Mrs. Scully, I'm so sorry." That was enough for her. She began to cry as Mulder leaned forward to give her a long, comforting hug. Soon, she ushered him inside, and they sat down to talk.

"How'd it happen?" Maggie asked when she finally felt ready.

Mulder was afraid to open that door, but she had the right to know how her daughter died. Slowly, he began to speak. "Dana was shot..." Her eyes told him that she had figured that. "…once in the stomach and once in the chest."

"Did she suffer?" Mulder knew Dana had been terrified and in a lot of pain--pain that her mother would try to imagine if he told her the truth--so he lied, shaking his head and silently considered Dana's pain himself. Then she asked him a question he had been hoping to avoid. "Where were you when this happened?"

"Mrs. Scully, about that, there's something I feel I should tell you." She urged him on with an encouraging nod, but she couldn't know how hard this was going to be for him to say. "Your daughter saved my life," he said into his hands and drew in a deep breath, "but it cost her hers."

"Oh, Fox." To his surprise, she jumped forward and enveloped him in her forgiving arms. "It's not your fault," she said in a motherly tone. If it hadn't been for Dana, he wouldn't be used to this treatment at all, but Maggie had taught her daughter well. "But I wouldn't say anything to Bill if I were you."

Mulder felt a sudden burst of fear in his stomach at the sound of his name. "Oh, God, Bill."

"Don't you worry, Fox. It'll be okay. I'll make sure he doesn't know where you live before I tell him the news." Her gesture was about forty percent joke and sixty percent concern for Mulder's well-being.

"Actually, Maggie, I think it would be best if I told him what happened in person." She looked confused and impressed at the same time. "It's the right thing to do. For now, just tell him Dana was shot."

Maggie nodded her understanding and looked down at his shirt. "Oh, let me take care of this for you, and you can shower if you want." Mulder put a protective hand on his bloodstained shirt. "What?"

"Not yet," he said. It broke her heart to see him try so hard to hold onto what he had left of her daughter, even if it was that. "There's one other thing that I think I should tell you. After all, I rather you find out from me than the rumors you may hear later. Dana and I are…were…"

"Together?"

"How did you--?"

"It was only a matter of time, Fox. I've been noticing the way you kids looked at each other since she started working with you. I'm just sorry that you didn't get to be with her longer."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making this bearable." She hugged him again, and a few minutes later, he took a cab home.

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**CHAPTER 13**

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**_A/N: Since no longer allows song lyrics unless they are completely original, I have deleted the lyrics to this song, which I used as my 13th chapter. Please do check them out or listen to the song sometime. It is very sad, but very beautiful._**

"_Here Without You"_

_by 3 Doors Down_

_**P.S. Things get better, I promise! Read through the end, and you'll see!**_


	4. Chapters 14 through 18

**If you are reading this now, then that means you have decided to give me a chance to right the major wrong I have committed in the last chapter, which was—of course—killing off Scully's character. I appreciate this opportunity you are giving me to do just that, and I assure you, it will not go unrewarded. Happy reading!**

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**CHAPTER 14**

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Mulder sat with his feet on the desk in his office, staring at a piece of paper. "I heard you were here," came his boss's voice, interrupting his thoughts. "Mulder, go home."

"There is a case in progress right now, sir. I have work to do." Mulder didn't even look at the source of the voice. He knew who it was and had no reason to avert his eyes from the paper.

"Mulder, the case can wait. You experienced a traumatic event and it's important that you give yourself a chance to recover. You are a remarkable agent, but I can't risk letting you get clumsy."

"Thank you for your support, sir," Mulder said dryly. "But I think this case will have to wait anyway." Skinner's expression questioned him. "The lab tests came out negative."

"The ones Scully had taken in yesterday?"

Mulder's chest sank. _Was it just yesterday_? "Yes. Those."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Dana's--Scully's--premise was wrong. The chemicals that were being dumped had nothing to do with the toxins created in the water. Maybe if she were here, she'd have another idea, that being her expertise and all. But I haven't a clue what to do."

"Go home."

Mulder was too depressed to argue, and the longer he sat in his office, the more he missed Scully sitting on the corner of his desk. _I should have gotten her a desk_, he thought, feeling guilty. _She has--had been my partner for six years, and she never had her own desk_. Though this never bothered him before, it bothered him now. He was finding that a lot of things like that were bothering him that never had in the past, and it was getting miserable. "Okay," he finally said to the assistant director, grabbed his coat, and left.

It was three o'clock when Mulder stepped into his apartment, carrying the manila envelope of lab results that he decided to bring home, just in case he thought of another approach to the problem. He also hoped it would take his mind off of other things, but every room he tried to work in reminded him of her. He was so exhausted because he hadn't been able to sleep the night before, so first, he tried to take a nap. Again, he lied down, but his bed felt empty without her in it next to him. He tossed and turned, moved pillows to create the feeling he wasn't alone, and lightly sprayed her perfume in the air next to him. However, when sleep finally came, it was often interrupted by images of her last moments in his arms. Every time he closed his eyes, he relived the horrifying experience. Gunshots rang out. She fell into his arms. Blood poured from her stomach and chest. It pooled in her mouth, dripping out the side. Sometimes he awoke then, but he was so desperate to see her that he didn't open his eyes until the nightmare ended. After a couple hours of futile attempts at his nap, he gave up and returned to the front room. He sat on the couch to read through the most current case report but was distracted by yet another memory. Mulder had been reaching for the file that lay on the coffee table, but he grabbed the wineglass next to it instead. He examined the smudges of lipstick on one small section of the rim. He inspected the shape of her bottom lip, the color of her lipstick, and the few drops of wine that she hadn't finished. He lightly kissed the smudge and set the glass down where it had been, next to his. For a moment, he stared at the bowl of popcorn that hadn't been finished either…along with the movie…along with their lives together. Nothing had been finished, and he didn't have the stomach to finish any of it without her. So he dumped the popcorn and rewound the movie, putting it and its case back in his movie cabinet. The wineglasses, he left as they were. Mulder lied down on the couch, his head pounding in response to sleep deprivation and hunger. He had considered aspirin for the headache, but it wouldn't have done any good. The three things he needed were the three things he couldn't have. Sleep was impossible. That had been proven. Food was certainly something that would help if he could stomach it. Unfortunately, he had been feeling ill since the night before, and the very thought of food made his face crumble with fatigue. The third thing he needed wasn't a thing at all. She had a name. A name that he couldn't bare to think because it caused him too much heartache. A name that he hoped he would remember and forget at the same time. A name that had been etched into his heart like initials in a tree. And just as he thought he might finally get another shot at a desperate slumber, the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Fox, it's Maggie."

He sat up, concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Actually, I just called to give you the information on Dana's service."

"Oh. Let me get a pen." Mulder leaned over the table in search of a writing tool and a piece of scratch paper. "Okay," he prompted when he was ready.

"I know it's short notice, Fox, but it's going to be tomorrow afternoon."

"What time?"

"Two o'clock." She hesitated. "How are you doing? Better?"

As much as he wanted to talk about what he was going through emotionally, he didn't want to upset his partner's mother. She was facing enough of her own demons, and he didn't want her to face his too. "It's really hard," he admitted, "but…" He tried to think of something else to say but couldn't.

Margaret Scully, being the teacher of her daughter's abilities to read people, knew that Mulder was only trying to protect her by not going into detail. "It's okay, you know. Let me be here for you."

Mulder was disappointed with himself for what he was about to say. "I'll see you tomorrow." He set the phone back on its cradle, imagining Margaret's face the moment she realized he had hung up. _So, tomorrow's the day, huh?_ He thought about Bill and practiced what he wanted to say to him quietly. "I'm very sorry about your sister," he whispered in the silence of his empty apartment. He imagined Bill would say, _You should be! You got her killed! Just like Melissa! My two baby sisters are gone from my life, and you are to thank for it! You are a disgrace, and you deserve to spend the rest of your life miserable. I hope when you leave here today, you look forward to your future in Hell!_ He hoped it wouldn't be that bad.

Suddenly, Mulder felt a warm, comforting sensation on his face. Nothing was there, but it reminded him of Dana's soft, tender kiss, and he lulled his head back on the couch. He was warm as if he had been covered by an invisible blanket. His headache had faded away, and his stomach muscles relaxed. For the first time in thirty-four hours, he fell into a deep, undisturbed sleep, and didn't wake until the next morning.

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Everyone was there. All three gunmen, wearing tuxedos. What was rest of Dana's family. All of her and Mulder's superiors. A few peers, coming to see how Spooky was holding up at "Mrs. Spooky's" service. Many of the people they had helped during the past six years attended as well. Mulder let his eyes scan the crowd for the elders, mostly looking for Smoking Man. Thankfully, they were _not _there…or not _visible_, anyway. Margaret walked over to him, surprised by the turnout. "I didn't realize you and Dana had so many friends."

Mulder just smiled, not wanting her to know the truth that many of the people were only there to make an appearance. One thing about working on the X-Files was there were more enemies than allies. "Maggie, I don't know if it's a good idea for me to be here. You know Bill has never liked me, and Dana was his sister. He should be able to grieve in peace."

"Don't be ridiculous! Fox, you deserve to be here more than anyone…perhaps even more than most of our own family. I won't let you miss it. Come on. You said you wanted to talk to Bill. He's right over here."

Mulder followed her reluctantly to a tall man, his wife, and his children. His wife and children were crying, and went to take their seats. Bill was just standing there. Margaret and Mulder walked up to him, and Maggie spoke first. "Bill, how are you doing, honey?"

Immediately, his eyes fixated on Mulder as if he was shocked to see him there. "Mom, I still think this should have been family _only_," he said, still glaring at Mulder.

"Dana had a lot of friends, and Fox was one of them."

He was speaking to Mulder now. "How did she get shot?"

Mulder preferred not to start there, but he didn't feel like dancing around the question. "She was protecting me." Even though that was the answer Bill was thinking, he wasn't prepared for Mulder to actually admit to it. His face twisted in a mixture of angst and sadness. "I miss her too, you know."

"Where do you get off--?"

"Bill!" interrupted a strong, harsh voice. He had forgotten his mother was standing there.

"Well," Bill said, continuing to talk to Mulder, "she always did feel obligated to protect you."

Mulder became defensive and couldn't stop himself. "You know what? Protecting me was _never _something she felt _obligated_ to do! She did it because she was a good, honest person--unlike you! She cared about me and respected me, believe it or not, for who I am! And I loved her for it!" Mulder was doing everything he could to not break down crying. "I would have laid down my life for her, and she knew it. But she did it for me first." Bill looked at the agent, unsure if he was finished. Mulder was only done yelling, for there was now a small audience, but he wasn't done talking. "Whether or not you will ever believe me, I have always tried to put Dana's safety first. The last thing I wanted was for anything to happen to her." His eyes went from Bill to Maggie and, then, to the ground. "I loved her so much."

"What did you say?" Bill growled.

"I said that I was in love with her." He looked up to find Bill's eyes scowling back at him. "And she was in love with me."

"I don't believe this."

Getting cocky again, Mulder was tempted to tell Bill about his and Scully's relationship, but it was a quarter to two, and he didn't think it was appropriate. To his surprise, however, Maggie reentered the conversation, talking to her son. "Fox and Dana had been together for a while before this happened, Bill."

Mulder and Bill both turned to her with shock displayed on their faces. Mulder wanted to say something, but he was afraid that "badeetbadeetbadeet" would be all that would come out. Bill, on the other hand, had no trouble reacting. He turned to the dumbfounded Mulder and punched him across the face, throwing the agent into the dirt. As Bill stormed off, Maggie rushed to Mulder's side. "Fox? Fox? Are you okay?"

He lingered in the air for a second while he tried to get up. "Actually, that went better than I thought it would." He took Maggie's arm gently and walked her behind a tree so that everyone would stop staring at him. "Mrs. Scully, I'm sorry, but Dana wouldn't want this."

"What?"

"_This_! She wouldn't want her brother and me fighting like this. Obviously, he will never forgive me for being a part of Dana's life, so I need to be the one. I will stay to pay my respects. But he's right. It should be _family_. Thank you for being so kind, but I think I should let you and your family grieve in peace. It's not my place."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, and I'm sorry that Bill has made this even harder on you than it already began. I shouldn't have said anything."

"I'm glad you did." He smiled and looked up, noticing the priest was ready. "Let's go do this."

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**CHAPTER 15**

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That night, after the funeral, Mulder sat up in his bed. This was making him mad. He had thought he was finally on his way to closure when he had, yet, another nightmare. This one was different, however. It didn't take place in the warehouse, but rather in his own apartment. He was looking for her but couldn't find her. In his dream, he had grown more and more frustrated and feared what he would find. He woke up before he found her, which may have been for the best. He slid out of bed and put on a pair of dirty jeans. Throwing on whatever T-shirt was closest, he grabbed a coat and walked toward the door. Mulder wasn't sure where he was going, but he felt like walking, and any place was better than his apartment.

He was drawn to a twenty-four-hour florist. He didn't even know there was one. When he got up to the counter, he bought a dozen roses. "Let me guess," the florist said, glancing at his watch, which read just past midnight. "You did something wrong, and you think that if you buy her roses, she'll forgive you."

"Something like that." Mulder sighed, giving the florist a weak smile. It was ironic to him that after all the years they had been friends, it wasn't until her death that he bought her roses. He didn't really know what he was going to do with them, but he bought them anyway.

Before he knew it, he looked up to find the cemetery in front of him. _Did I mean to come here_? he thought, confused. Deciding to give into his subconscious desire, he entered the cemetery and walked directly to his partner's grave. He looked at the dozen roses in his hand and realized why he was there. Mulder laid the roses on her headstone and looked down at the message he had asked Margaret to have engraved on it. "A rose among weeds," he read aloud. He leaned against the headstone and slid down to the ground. "You know, I'm having one hell of a time trying to figure out this case." He suddenly seemed to feel better, as if she was really listening. "It took a turn on us. I thought for sure you would be right about that chemical dumping, but according to the lab results, those chemicals have nothing to do with our case. They are completely harmless just as the manager said. Even their combinations with each other and their combinations with the water in the streams and rivers. I don't know what to do, Scully. You are the scientist…the chemist…not me." He smiled and remembered how good smiling felt. "Your brother has an awesome left hook. Now I know who taught you." Silently reminiscing about a particular case a few years back, Mulder recalled his partner's excellent fighting skills and almost felt sorry for the killer that tried to attack her. How could he have known that her self-defense would leave him with a very sore right cheek? "You and your left hooks," he laughed. He continued to tell his partner what she had been missing. In all likeliness, he wouldn't have been saying any of it if she had really been in front of him, but for now, small talk was all he could bare. It made him feel like she was sitting behind him…there but out of sight.

Suddenly, he heard another voice. This was a voice he had despised his entire adult life. But, this was a time that any familiar voice was consoling. "Hello, Fox," said an elderly man, smoking a cigarette.

"What are you doing here?" Though the familiarity of Smoking Man's voice comforted him, Mulder had not lost his senses completely. He had learned that paranoia often prevented poor judgment and problems that came from it. If he had to be careful about poor judgment around anyone, it was Smoking Man.

"I figured you'd be here."

"What do you want?"

"To make you a deal."

Mulder shook his head like a little kid. "No. No deal," he said.

"You don't even know what it is."

"You want me to work for you, but I told you before that I would never do that."

"Fox," Smoking Man said as he let a dark cloud escape from his mouth and nostrils, "I happen to know how much you want her back." Mulder looked up. "You work for me, and I can make that happen."

Mulder fought to stay loyal to what his inner voice was saying to him, but he was curious and desperate. "How? How can you bring her back?"

"Ah-ah-ah," he said coldly, shaking a frail finger at him. "So, what do you say?"

Mulder thought about it, which was further than he got the last time this deal was offered. When Scully was dying of cancer, Smoking Man promised to make her better if Mulder changed sides. He refused, and Scully's cancer went into remission anyway. Unfortunately, reversing death wasn't a possibility on its own. He shook his head. "She would never forgive me. I know her, and the last thing she would want is for me to turn around and ally with our enemies. I would rather do what's right and suffer than become a part of your lies."

"You say it with such conviction," he taunted. "The offer still stands."

"How do I even know you aren't lying?"

"You don't. But is that a risk you are willing to take? Think about it, Fox." And, with that, he disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

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**CHAPTER 16**

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Skinner approached the door that read "42" on it. He knocked, but there was no answer. "Mulder, open up!" he yelled, worried that something might have been terribly wrong.

No answer.

"Mulder!" Finally, he checked the door and found that it was unlocked. He walked in. "Mulder?"

Mulder was lying on the couch in the dark with a gun dangling limply from a fingertip. Skinner feared the worst until the agent looked up at him. "Hey, Walter. Come to spread some cheer?"

"What's with the gun?"

Mulder looked down at it as if he had forgotten it was in his hand. "Just thinkin'."

Skinner walked up to the couch and extended his hand. "Give it to me, Mulder."

"Who do you think I'll use it on?" Skinner didn't answer, and Mulder handed him the gun. "I've been offered a deal by the devil."

"Oh? What was it?"

"Smoking Man. If I work for him, he'll bring Scully back."

"Mulder--"

"I know. I refused it earlier, but now I'm not sure. What if he could?"

"You know she wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want you to join the forces you've spent your life fighting." Skinner sat down on the coffee table carefully and noticed a wineglass with lipstick on it.

"I don't want to do it, but I can't help feeling like…"

"It will get easier. Smoking Man is a rotten liar, and you know it. He will let you do his dirty work for him and then leave you with nothing…not even your dignity."

"Can I have my gun back?"

"No."

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**CHAPTER 17**

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Mulder walked up to his partner's grave, but he wasn't there to talk to her. It was the middle of the night, and he knew the devil would be out. "You've changed you mind," came an old voice out of nowhere.

"You knew I would."

"Go home, Fox, and take a nap. Tomorrow…you change teams."

Mulder was going to ask about his partner, but Smoking Man had already gone. He turned toward the headstone, noticing his roses had fallen to the ground and were withering away. "Forgive me," he whispered, and then, he walked home and went to bed.

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It was the morning before he knew it, and Mulder dreaded the thought of waking up until…

"Morning, sweetie," came a soft, familiar voice from behind him. He felt his heart racing and a surprised smile tore across his face. He rolled onto his other side and saw her. Mulder didn't remember a time she looked more beautiful than that moment. "Did you sleep well?"

He couldn't find any words that would answer that. Instead, all he could say was, "Where did you come from?" He didn't really mean to say it, but there was no taking it back.

Scully looked confused and insulted. "What are you talking about? I've been here all night." Mulder apologized as he tried to figure out what Smoking Man had done. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Scully. I'm okay. As long as you are really here, I'm okay." She still looked confused, but she wasn't insulted anymore. She snuggled into his arm and put her hand on his chest, rubbing his skin with her thumb. "I'm sorry. I just had a bad dream. That's all."

"I can relate to that," she said, yawning.

"It was so horrible, and I thought it was real." She tilted her head so that she could see his face. "What day is it?" he asked, not caring how crazy of a question it was.

"Saturday."

"Saturday? You mean you are going to take in those samples today?" _Could it possibly be the day she died?_ He was starting to figure out what it was Smoking Man had done.

"Yes, Mulder. That _is _the plan."

He smiled, relieved that he had a second chance, and pulled her close. Mulder began to remember what had happen the night before when he realized they weren't wearing anything, and he hugged her body tightly. Almost too tightly. "You can be late," he said before kissing her. He missed her so much, and now that he had her back, there was only one thing he wanted to do more than anything in the world.

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While his partner was taking the samples to the lab, Mulder sat in his apartment and waited for his new boss. There was a knock at the door, but when he opened it, he only found an envelope on the carpet. Inside was a letter. _To get instructions for your first assignment, meet me at the cemetery. You know where._ Though there was an empty space where his partner's grave had been (or would have been, rather), he knew exactly where Smoking Man meant. He left right away and headed for the cemetery to their favorite tree. "Hello, Fox." Mulder was getting tired of being greeted by that man in such a personal way, but he didn't say anything. "I'm surprised you came."

"Surprised that I kept my word?"

"I'm sure the only reason you are here is because he who has the power to do also has the power to _undo_. But, lucky for you, reasons don't matter. All that matters is you work for me now, and you do what I say." Mulder was wearing his best poker face, but he was terrified that Smoking Man would order him to do something to a friend. Never in his life would he want to have to choose between his partner and a dear friend…even though his partner would always win. "Your first assignment, I think, will be an easy transition." Then, Smoking Man said, dryly, "I want you to kill Alex Krycek."

"You're kidding, right?"

"When was the last time I wasn't completely serious?" He had a point.

Mulder, feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety, left the cemetery with his initiation job all planned out for him. Smoking Man had given him strict instructions on how it would go down. The only problem was that it would have to go down that night. He walked into his apartment, and Scully was waiting for him. "You're here early," he said, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Don't be. I just…"

"What's wrong?"

"We won't be able to watch that movie tonight. I'm afraid something came up."

Scully looked disappointed even though she tried to hide it. "That's okay, Mulder. We can watch it tomorrow. What are you doing tonight?"

"Uh, my mom called. She wants to talk to me, but I'm not sure what about."

"Oh. Okay. Well, that sounds fine because I can go have dinner at my mom's too. I haven't seen her for a while, and I miss her."

"That sounds perfect. I'm sure she would love to see you." He grabbed some things and headed back out the door, insisting she stay as in his apartment as long as she wanted.

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Mulder pulled up to a nearby apartment complex and looked up at the corner window on the fifth floor. The light was on. It bothered Mulder that Alex lived this close to him and he never knew it. He got out of the car wearing his trench coat and concealing a gun Smoking Man had given him. Even if Skinner hadn't taken his gun, Mulder knew this one couldn't be traced back to him. As he entered the building and rode the elevator up to Alex's floor, he thought about how much he had wanted to do this for the past four years. Alex had murdered Mulder's father and Scully's sister, and he had tried to kill Mulder and Scully more times than they could count. He walked down the hall to the last door on the left and listened for movement on the other side. Mulder heard footsteps come close to the door, and moved to the side. The light under the door disappeared, and then the footsteps receded back into the apartment where they finally stopped. Mulder pulled out his lock kit and unlocked the door. _What do you know? Alex Krycek doesn't use the security chain. Aw, what a shame,_ he thought sarcastically. He walked quietly into the dark room with the gun out and the silencer on. Alex was asleep in his bed. _This seems too easy._ Mulder raised the gun to Alex's head and pulled the trigger. _Spew._ And just like that, Alex was dead. He never even woke up to see it was Mulder, his worst enemy, that took his life. Mulder replaced the gun in his trench coat and left the apartment, relocking the door behind him.

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In the cemetery, Smoking Man awaited the agent. "How'd it go?" he asked when Mulder arrived.

"Just as planned."

"Good. What did you do with the gun?" Mulder pulled it out and handed it to him. "Good."

"What now?"

"Now, you wait for my next assignment. In the mean time, go home and enjoy the rest of the evening." Smoking Man walked away with a cigarette in hand. Mulder took the long way home.

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**CHAPTER 18**

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"I thought you'd be eating dinner at your mother's house," he asked, finding Scully asleep on his couch. She seemed to be awakened by his comment.

"Oh, I did. What time is it?" Mulder looked at his watch and realized enough time had gone by for her to go to her mother's, have dinner and a nice conversation, and be back at his apartment a long time ago. "It's ten o'clock," he said surprised. _Have_ _I been walking around for that long?_ Finally, he chalked it up to nerves and moved the conversation along. "How is she?"

"Good. I told her about us," she yawned.

"What'd she say?" He already had a pretty good idea, but he was still curious.

Dana blushed. "She wasn't surprised. She said that it was just a matter of time… How's Teena?"

"Good…she's good. She just wanted to visit apparently."

"That's nice." Scully was having another yawning attack and could barely keep her eyes open.

"Why don't you go to bed," he suggested. "I'm going to stay out here for a while."

"Okay." She forced herself up and walked to the bedroom, collapsing on the bed. Mulder went in to tuck her in, seeing she was asleep before she hit the pillow, and then he returned to the couch.

_There is no doubt in my mind that the deal was worth it_, he thought as he thumbed through the case file. He knew that the tests she had taken in that morning would be negative, and he wanted to get a head start on thinking of other possibilities. One idea he had come up with was, perhaps, there were chemicals in the already existing ground water that combined with other coexisting natural chemicals. That would match the environmental history report Skinner had given him. All they needed was proof. After about an hour, he decided to call it quits and go to bed. He went into the bedroom and looked at his partner. She was sleeping so soundly that he almost woke her just to make sure she was okay. He stopped himself, though, when he saw her chest moving up and down. She was fine. She was still breathing. It was after eleven o'clock--four and half hours after she would have died--and she was still breathing. He got in bed and curled up next to her. His entire adult life, he had hated Smoking Man, but right now, he was thankful that CSM existed. Suddenly, he didn't mind losing everything to Cancer Man in the past because, as much as he had taken away, the one thing he returned was worth more than all that was lost.

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**See, I told you so. And thus begins new worries of a new problem, right? Well, there's only one way to find out if I right that wrong too! Read on…**


	5. Chapters 19 through end

**Here for the ending, eh? Let me know what you think when you're done.**

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**CHAPTER 19**

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"I got the test results back," announced a less than thrilled Scully, walking into their basement office. She went directly to the corner of his desk and sat down, making her partner smile.

"Let me guess," he said, not guessing at all, "negative?"

"You got it. So, I guess it's back to the drawing board."

"Well, I have an idea. What if we test the chemicals from one stream or river with chemicals of a different stream or river? We just have to make sure those two streams will meet before our cliff."

"That's brilliant! I can't believe I didn't think of that! You know, Mulder," she grinned, "That's why we make such a good team." He couldn't help but smile at her comment, but as he did, he took note that he didn't need her to come up with another possibility after all. He would need her to prove it, though.

"Thank you. So, that just means another week of waiting for test results," he shrugged angrily. "It sure does suck to be at the bottom of the totem pole."

"Ah, but that's where _I_ get to do my share. I'll just run the tests myself…I don't think Kayla will mind." Scully saw him smile, showing his gratitude and decided to milk it, not knowing the significance of her words. "What would you ever do without me, huh?"

Mulder looked shaken by the question. "Oh, probably make a deal with the devil to get you back," he answers with a weak grin, hoping she wouldn't see right through it.

"You better not. I'd have to give you a swift kick in the back end."

Mulder stands and walks over to her. Before kissing her tenderly on the mouth, he said, "Well, I hope I never, ever have to find out." Accepting the kiss, Dana pushed herself up on her toes. "I love you so much, you do not even know," he whispered into her lips.

"I love you, too," she replied softly, rubbing her hands on his back. For a minute, they just stood, holding each other in the office, when she said, "We better not do this here. We don't want anyone getting suspicious, do we?" Then she turned to head back out of the office, but Mulder stopped her with a question of his own.

"Do you want your own desk?" he asked.

She looked thrown by the random offer, but took a second to consider it. "I've gone this long without one," she finally said. "I'm fine sharing yours. Thanks, though." With that, she headed back to the lab. Mulder sat in the office silently, wishing he didn't have to go meet Smoking Man for another assignment, but go, he eventually did.

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Scully entered the laboratory and found the chemist immediately. "Hi, Kayla," she greeted for the second time that morning.

"Dana! Back so soon?"

"Yeah. Would you mind if I ran some tests on a few of these samples myself? Mulder and I have a new approach to this."

"Not a problem. In fact, you can have the whole lab to yourself. I was just off to an early lunch…beat the crowd, you know?"

Scully nodded and raised her eyebrows happily. "That's perfect… Thank you."

"No problem. Glad I could make your day."

Once alone, Dana grabbed three of the test tubes labeled "Stream 1," "Stream 2," and "River 3." The answer had to be there. She took three clean eyedroppers and placed each one in a beaker with one of the test tubes. She examined each liquid under a microscope independently, hoping she would be able to run her experiments that way and wouldn't have to test it on any of the lab rats. Scully never did like that part of science, but sometimes it was imperative. After she had run separate analyses, she felt ready to start mixing and matching. So far, she had verified that each sample was completely safe independently. From the three original samples, she filled four clean test tubes with new solutions. In one, she mixed one and two. In the second, she mixed samples two and three. In the third, she combined three and one, and in the fourth, she combined all three samples. Placing the used eyedroppers in a soiled bin for cleaning later, she took out four fresh ones. Again, she ran the same tests: examining each solution under the microscope and running them through the FBI's very handy chemical analysis machine. Finally, she found a match. The agent continued to double and triple checked her findings by calculating the combination of the two suspicious chemicals from "Stream 1" and "River 3." Right on target. _Yes!_

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Meanwhile, Mulder waited for Smoking Man to arrive. When he did, he said, "Your next assignment will be Assistant Director, Walter Skinner."

_Oh no!_ "You want me to kill him?" Mulder whimpered, not caring how pathetic it sounded.

"No, actually. I want you to steal some information from him." Mulder seemed relieved until he considered what Smoking Man would want with the information. "The file number is 483957. Commit this number to memory, and don't let anyone know that you know it exists."

"What's in it?" Smoking Man smiled, and Mulder understood that he wasn't supposed to know. "I'll try to get it to you tomorrow. Tonight I have plans."

"Fox, you know that I give the orders, and they are to be followed. You will get it to me tonight."

"Yes, sir." If it hadn't been for his partner's life as collateral, Mulder would have spit in the old man's face. But he was right. He was Mulder's boss, and that was that.

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**CHAPTER 20**

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By the time Mulder returned to his office, Scully was almost finished typing up their report. She was sitting at his desk, working on her laptop when he walked in, and she greeted him with a pleasant smile. "We did it!"

"What?"

"We cracked the case--we're done!"

Mulder allowed her excitement to lighten his mood. "One more down."

"I made our meeting with Skinner for three o'clock. I figured I would be done with the report by then, but I was expecting you back a while ago. Will you have time to finish your report?"

"Oh yeah," he said, looking at his watch. He had over an hour, and thanks to his familiarity with the case--having been working on it longer than she had--he already knew what he wanted to write.

"Where _have_ you been, anyway?" As he looked at her, she showed no mercy in her glare back.

"I had a meeting, and then I walked around for a while." His eyes begged her to dismiss her question, which she did (but would only for the time being).

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Skinner sat at his desk nodding. "Sounds good," he said, directing his voice mostly at Scully. She had been the one giving him the details on the case and how they had solved it. Mulder, however, seemed distracted…again. Skinner just assumed that Mulder was tired, like the last time they had a conference together. Scully, on the other hand, knew something was bothering him and was determined to find out what it was. As they stood to leave, Mulder turned to his partner and said, "I'll catch up."

"Okay," she said, suspiciously and headed for their office.

"What can I do for you, Agent Mulder?" the assistant director offered.

"I was having trouble finding a certain file in my office that I thought might be helpful for another case I was considering. So, I was wondering if you had a copy of it."

"What one?"

Mulder didn't have any particular one in mind, so he rattled off a random number. "1634."

"Let me look." Skinner left his office to check the archives, and Mulder ran to his file cabinet. _483957_, he recalled, pulling the confidential file from its place. He slipped it into his jacket just before Skinner returned.

"Here you go," he said. "Bring it back when you are done with it."

"Okay. Thanks." Mulder left Skinner's office, acting as normal as he ever would. He stopped at the copy room next to the elevator and made a duplicate of the small stack of documents in the folder he had taken. Mulder planned to return the originals the next opportunity he was given. When he got down to the basement, he poked his head in the door. "I'll be right back," he informed his partner.

"_Now_ where are you going?"

"I just have an errand to run. It will only take fifteen minutes…tops." He didn't even wait for her to respond before he left. As he walked further into the cemetery, a figure materialized in the distance ahead. "I got it."

"Good." Smoking Man dropped his cigarette into the mud and squished it with his shoe. Then he took the folder and smiled humorlessly. "There's been a problem among the elders," he began. "Your friends are hacking into secret files."

"My friends?" Mulder's eyes lowered, and his body slumped forward as he realized who Smoking Man was talking about. "I can make them stop! They don't have to die."

"What are their names again?"

Mulder gave him an _I'm-not-telling_ scowl, but that wasn't a good enough answer. "They are the Lone Gunmen," he finally whispered. "Frohike, Byers, and Langly."

"Don't act so down, Fox. You are doing great."

"I don't want to kill them."

"It's your choice: your friends, or Scully." Mulder watched sadly as Smoking Man walked away. _What am I going to do?_ he thought as he turned to head back to the car.

Just then, his view was obstructed by an angry redhead. "What was that?" Mulder was still trying to get over the shock of her being there. "What were you talking to Smoking Man about?"

"I-I-I-uh--" He had no answer. "Were you _spying_ on me?"

Suddenly she looked more concerned than she did angry, and it made him want to tell her everything. "What does he want from you? Can't he just leave you alone?"

"Listen, Dana, this is really complicated." She wanted more than that. "That's all I can say." He put his hand on her shoulder, and she shrugged it off, at which point he left in defeat. "I'm so sorry."

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**CHAPTER 21**

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That night, Mulder couldn't reach his partner anywhere. She wasn't at her apartment, and when he tried her mother's house, Maggie insisted her daughter wasn't there. He sat in the dark, trying to figure out if he had made the right choice. Everything seemed easy until then. As much as he didn't want to risk losing his partner again, the Lone Gunmen were his oldest friends. They were the only people besides Scully he had always been able to trust, and Smoking Man wanted them dead…not just dead, but he wanted Mulder to kill them. _I don't think I can do this_, he fretted. He picked up the phone and hit redial. _Please, please, please be there._

"No one's home," Scully said, standing in his doorway. She flicked on the light.

"Oh, my… I need to talk to you." He jumped up and guided her to the couch where she sat down and gave him an indifferent look. "Sorry about today," he started. "It's just that I didn't think you would believe me."

"Then why tell me now? Why decide to tell me at all?" She was being cold with him.

"I want to confide in you. I _need_ to confide in you." They were silent for a long moment, and then Mulder began to tell her the truth. "I just wanted you to live again."

Apparently, this freaked her out. "_What_?" She stood up in front of him, not wanting to be close.

He didn't know how to tell her, so he decided to just let the words come out as he thought them. "Do you remember Saturday morning when I was acting strange?" She nodded. "I had gone to bed the night before, and it wasn't with you. It was actually today…I think…and you were gone."

"I was…dead?" she asked skeptically, throwing out a hand.

He knew she didn't believe him, but it didn't surprise him in the least. "Yes."

"How?" Though Scully was having trouble absorbing this, she fought to keep an open mind. After all, she should at least do that for him.

"The first time around, we were watching that movie--the one we didn't get a chance to watch _this _time--and the phone rang. It was that construction worker, Mario Sanchez, and he warned me not to bother them anymore. We chased him--in your car--to that abandoned warehouse on Franklin, and--"

"Abandoned warehouse?" she interrupted. He noticed right away the startled look in her eyes.

"Yeah. Does that mean anything to you?"

"You said that _I_ died…was I stabbed?"

"No. You were shot…twice. He shot you once in the stomach and once in the chest." If it hadn't been for the crack in his voice, she wouldn't have even noticed how emotional he was getting. "You tried to tell me something was wrong, but I didn't listen. You told me you had a bad feeling about it and insisted that we call for backup, but I refused. Before I knew it, you had taken two bullets for me. I never even saw them coming. I don't know how you knew, but…" His voice trailed off, and Scully sat back down to console him as he began to cry. "You died in my arms."

She held him in the same way her mother had held her when she was little, and rocked him back and forth. Dana wanted to believe him, but it was so outlandish, even for her partner. The only thing that made her wonder if it could be true was her dream. She had never told him anything about it. Therefore, the only way he could know was if his story had really happened. "What happened then?"

"Smoking Man offered me a deal. He said he could bring you back if I changed sides."

"And that's what you did?"

"In so many words. I haven't really changed sides. I'm still on our side--the good side--but I'm doing jobs for him. He gives me assignments." He looked up at her. "Did I make the wrong choice?"

She didn't know what to say. She didn't even know if she believed him, but she couldn't find a reason to not. "I don't know."

"It's not the first time he had offered me that deal before. When you had your cancer, and I came in to talk to you, that was the decision I had made…that I wouldn't tell you."

"Really?" He nodded. "Huh. What else happened when I was…dead?"

"I talked to your mother."

Scully was being facetious, but when Mulder mentioned her mother, she felt her chest drop. "You had to tell my mom I had been killed?"

"I went straight there after. Your blood was all over my shirt. It was so horrible. There was one thing that I found interesting after you had dinner with her, though. That night, I also told her about us. She told me the same thing she had told you." A smile tugged at the corners of Dana's mouth. "I told Bill too."

"That was brave. How did he take it?"

Mulder laughed and said, "I got to find out why you have such a great left hook!"

She helplessly broke into her own laugher. "Okay, now I have to believe you." The comic relief felt wonderful to both of them, but it was time to be serious again. "What's your next assignment?"

"He wants me to kill the Gunmen."

"No--" she gasped under her breath. "You aren't going to are you?"

"I have no choice. If I don't, he'll take back his end of the deal, and everything will go back to the way it was. As much as I know you don't want that, I think it's fair for me to say that I don't want that even more. Dana, I'm miserable without you. I'm not going to lose you again. I refuse!"

She was touched, but resisted letting him know. "Then we need a plan," she said.

"You're going to help me?"

"Well, I certainly won't let you go through this alone…not if I was the reason for it all." He looked worried until she exposed her sweet smile. By the way, I _do_ forgive you."

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**CHAPTER 22**

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Scully looked around suspiciously. _I can't believe how paranoid I let him make me!_ she thought as she knocked on the heavy door of an unmarked building. _What is it? Oh, three knocks and two taps._ The door opened slowly. "You don't need to knock like that anymore. We have finally replaced our camera," bragged a content Byers, pointing at a surveillance camera above the door and ushering her into the room faster than she could walk. "Come in, come in." Once settled, he asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"All you have to do is pretend to die."

"Say what?" asked Langly.

She bit her lip. "Mulder is going to meet you in the park downtown tonight. He will have a gun that Smoking Man is giving him as we speak, but tonight, he will be _using_ his own gun."

Frohike laughed, "Is that supposed to make us feel better?"

"It will be loaded with blanks," she grinned. "We have a pretty good feeling that Smoking Man will be watching, and it needs to look real."

Byers spoke up again. "With all due respect, Agent Scully, don't you think he'll find out sooner or later that Mulder didn't kill us?"

"Sure. That's where I come in. But like I said, you just have to worry about that one thing."

"What time?" asked Langly.

"Mulder will contact you."

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That night, at seven o'clock sharp, the Gunmen walked into the park and up to Mulder. Scully stood behind a tree in the distance, loading a rifle. As soon as the gun was loaded, she held it up and tested the view. _Now, where is he?_ Suddenly, Mulder pulled the trigger on his gun three times, and she watched the Gunmen fall to the dirt. Even though she knew it wasn't real, her breath still caught in her throat.

Mulder stood in the dark for a few more seconds, remorse in his face. "I'm sorry, you guys," he said aloud. Dana watched him through the view on the rifle and waited for her mark. Soon, her target would enter the picture, and when he did, she was ready.

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Mulder stood, looking down at his friends, and disciplined himself to not praise their performance. His eyes rose and searched for Smoking Man, who finally decided to cut through a cluster of trees. "There! Are you happy?" Mulder shouted at him, trying to sound angry and sad.

"Fox, I must say that I am impressed. I didn't think you would go through with it." Smoking Man glanced down at the bodies, noticing something odd. "Do you realize the seriousness of our deal, Fox?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It is very important that you follow my orders, or else Scully dies!" He began to point at Byer's chest, which was slightly moving up and down, but Mulder pushed his arm to the side.

"Wait, please," he begged. "Wait! I'll do it for real this time! I'll do it for real!"

Smoking Man just glared at him. "She's here, isn't she?"

"What? Who?"

Disregarding both of Mulder's questions, Smoking Man warned, "If I die, so does the deal."

Mulder shot a glance at the tree his partner had been using for cover. "No," he whispered. _Spew._ Scully was an excellent shot…one of the best…but Mulder wished she hadn't been as he watched the old man crash to the ground in front of him. Blood bubbled and spilled from the side of his head. "No-o!" _She has to be there! Please be there._ Mulder ran from the middle of the park to the trees, calling his partner frantically, but she was nowhere to be found.

"What is it, Mulder?" called a concerned Langly from the field. Mulder didn't answer; he just kept running, until he felt an awful pain, and everything went dark.

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**CHAPTER 23**

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"Mulder?" Mulder floated in and out of consciousness to Frohike's voice. "Mulder?"

Suddenly he shot up. "Where am I?"

The Gunmen were all leaning over him, talking among one another. "I told you he had a concussion… He has amnesia… Well, it was a pretty big tree… Mulder?"

"Where are we?" Mulder repeated, desperate for an answer.

"We're in the park," Byers answered. "Are you okay?"

"Where's Scully? Is she dead?" Mulder held a sob in his throat, making his voice sound whiny. "I killed her, didn't I? I got her killed again," he cried, shaking his head woozily. The Gunmen stared at him, none of them making the effort to answer him. He felt empty all over again. Mulder thought for sure that his friends thought he was crazy. If Smoking Man was right, then Scully would have already been dead for a week. _How could this be happening? If she's gone again, I don't want to live this time._

"Mulder? Are you okay, sweetie?"

_What?_ Mulder raised his glossy eyes, and they fixated on her face. "You're okay!" he shouted. "I thought I had lost you again when I blacked out."

She was trying her best to be sensitive to his confusion and not laugh. "Mulder," she said, accidentally giggling between syllables, "you blacked out because you ran into a tree."

His chin dropped, and suddenly, he could feel the pain return to his head and groaned. Scully took his hand as the Gunmen hoisted him up into a standing position. She put an arm under his arms and around his back to help him to the car. "You still don't believe me, do you?" he murmured as she slid him into the passenger's side of the vehicle.

For a moment, she only stared at him, and then she smiled. "I believe you."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I see it in your eyes," she said and kissed his forehead.

Byers, Frohike, and Langly walked up and gestured to the matching blood packs that were wired to each of them. "Good idea, Mulder," Langly commended. "But you seriously would have killed us?"

Mulder didn't move his eyes from his partner's face. "I would do anything to save her." The Gunmen patted him on the back, showing understanding and forgiveness. "Let's go home," Mulder sighed.

Scully closed his door, walked around the car, and slid into the driver's seat. The engine came to life and the car rolled onto the main street that would take them back to his apartment. "What are you thinking?" she asked when they were almost home.

Mulder smiled. As he stroked her forearm, he answered, "About a rose among weeds."

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**The End**

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**So how'd I do?**


End file.
